Name

Katie Lavin

About

I'm an Illustrator from and currently living in Chicago, Illinois. I received my BFA in Illustration from the American Academy of Art.

Line work draws my attention- I find beauty in a well-drawn, well-crafted line. I strive to bring out a world of converging and diverging line, patterns and shapes that are never the same twice, unless that’s part of the plan. I find a strong desire to bring deliberate line work into my softer drawings, introduce them to a more graphic nature. I also find my subject of interest shifting. I get really excited about natural beauty in the world, animals and their self-contained nature, plants and flowers and bark which all offer strange and wonderful texture- inspiring patterns and designs which lend more to the imagination than a photograph might. I also become deeply motivated by my dreams. I believe I have a very absorbent mind- throughout my day I experience different sensations and enjoy recognizing them in my dreams in new and wild context. I gain a different perspective on these things and feel they find their way out into the work. Spontaneity serves these inspirations well. Detail is important to me. I want someone who views my work to be intrigued, to spend a good deal of time looking and letting the eye wander throughout the entire piece. When someone engages in art similarly to the way they might with a book or a beautiful place, they are bringing something away with themselves, a memory now in the conscious… forever in the subconscious, my hope is that I offer a visual which may resurface anew in a dream or that place one goes to when one is completely spaced out.
While I have a love of traditional work, and almost always begin each piece in traditionally,
I have broadened my horizons to experimenting with digital means of finishing a piece in color.
Where do these pieces find purpose? With the source of their inspirations- music, drink, stories and articles, these things all benefit from original work. I know a piece is finished when it conveys a sense of technical chaos or depth. Please feel free to contact me about freelance work, personal logos, tattoo design, or to have an artist-to-artist conversation. Thank you!